Konoha
Joining Membership is open to all starting characters. Non-affiliated characters should contact the Hokage about joining. Description Konohagakure (木ノ葉隠れの里, Konohagakure no Sato; literally meaning "Village Hidden by Tree Leaves"), also known as "Village Hidden in the Leaves" or "Hidden Leaf Village" is the hidden village of the Land of Fire. As the village of one of the Five Great Shinobi Countries, Konohagakure has a Kage as its leader, known as the Hokage. On a mountain overlooking the village from the north exists the Hokage Monument which has the faces of all those who have taken the office of Hokage engraved on it. Although Konoha, which would later become known as the most powerful village possessing an elite shinobi army corps, has been relatively peaceful since the end of the Third Shinobi World War, it remains one of the most powerful villages in existence, and has great military power and influence. The shinobi of this village wear blue or black shirts which may or may not have swirl patterns on the shoulders, along with matching coloured pants over a green flak jacket which also has a red swirl on the back, and pockets on the chest area. History Founding Before the ninja villages came into being, there was the Era of the Warring Clans when ninja were organised into small mercenary clans that knew nothing but battle. Two such clans were the Senju clan and the Uchiha clan, who have warred against each other since the time of their ancestors and are revered by others as the strongest ninja clans. Eventually, intending to end the countless bloodshed, Hashirama Senju used his power as leader of his clan to enter a truce with the Uchiha clan despite reluctance from its leader Madara Uchiha. Afterwards, the two clans would form the first shinobi village where Madara and Hashirama had met as children: Konohagakure — a name invented by Madara himself. Hashirama Senju used his Wood Release abilities to produce much of the villages' infrastructure. This ability and his ideals were two of the reasons he was chosen to become the village's leader, the Hokage. However, not being named Hokage and fearing that the Senju would oppress his clan, Madara attempted to gather support to overthrow Hashirama. But after his kin ostracised him, Madara resolves to deal with Hashirama himself by enslaving Kurama the Nine-Tails to do his bidding. The epic battle that ensued, causing the formation of the Valley of the End while Madara was presumed dead, resulted with Kurama sealed within Mito Uzumaki, a member of the Uzumaki clan who were known for their unique chakra, who became the Nine-Tails's first known Jinchūriki and created a tradition on it due to the close ties between the Senju and Uzumaki clans. At some point, Hashirama came to bind some of the other tailed beasts and gave them to the other newly formed ninja villages to promote peace. However this peace was short lived. The First Three World Wars Konoha took part in the first three Shinobi World Wars. Hashirama died shortly after the village began to flourish, and the mantle of Hokage was passed onto his brother Tobirama Senju, who became the Second Hokage. During his administration, making attempts so that no other Uchiha would end up like Madara, Tobirama created the Konoha Military Police Force and placed the Uchiha in charge of it. As the building also housed the jail and was located in the vicinity of the Uchiha's compound, this essentially ostracised them from the rest of the village. In giving them this task, Tobirama hoped to redirect the emotional Uchiha into a task which would benefit the village as well as save them from their Curse of Hatred. Tobirama died during the First Shinobi World War when he sacrificed himself to ensure the escape of his subordinates Hiruzen Sarutobi, Kagami Uchiha, Torifu Akimichi as well as Homura Mitokado, and Koharu Utatane from Kumogakure's Kinkaku Force. Having inherited the mantle of Hokage, Hiruzen later led Konoha's forces during the Second Shinobi World War where his three students Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Orochimaru became known as the Legendary Sannin. Other than fighting across Amegakure with numerous clashes with its leader Hanzō, little is known of Konoha's actions during the war. Konoha became involved in the Third Shinobi World War fighting the ninja of Iwagakure at Kusagakure. Konoha was almost defeated, but Minato Namikaze helped turn the war back in their favour with his apprentice Obito Uchiha among those who "died" during the war. Nine-Tails' Attack After the end of the Third Shinobi World War, Minato was chosen as the Fourth Hokage. However, Minato's administration was short lived as Obito, having fallen into the Curse of Hatred and became a heir Madara's legacy, snuck into the village and removing Kurama from its current host, Minato's wife Kushina Uzumaki, to have the tailed beast attack Konoha. Minato was able to defeat the masked ninja, unaware of his true identity, but he and Kushina later sacrificed their lives to seal the Nine-Tails into their son, Naruto Uzumaki. Many ninja died defending the village that day and blame for the events were projected on both Naruto and the Uchiha clan, the former unaware that he became the Nine-Tails's Jinchūriki and latter secretly accused of orchestrating the attack. In the aftermath, becoming Konoha's leader again, Hiruzen learns that Orochimaru had been kidnapping children in an experiment to reproduce Hashirama's power. However, though knowing he had to kill Orochimaru, Hiruzen did nothing and allowed his former apprentice to leave Konoha as a missing-nin who founded his own village to continue his human experimentation: Otogakure. Uchiha Clan Massacre Due to being blamed for the Nine Tails's attack on the village and believing that Madara's warning of them becoming nothing more than second class citizens was becoming a reality, many of the Uchiha members began plotting a coup d'état that would wrest control of Konoha. However, there were few members of the Uchiha who saw the dangers of such a venture. One such figure being Itachi Uchiha, who became a spy for Konoha's leadership. After peace talks failed, his part in the death of Uchiha playing a factor in it, anzō Shimura orders Itachi to wipe out his clan. Assisted by Obito, whom he though was Madara himself, Itachi killed all but one of kin: his younger brother, Sasuke Uchiha. Honouring Itachi's request as he leaves the village, Hiruzen promises to protect Sasuke from Danzō. From there, the higher ups cover up the slaughter as cold-blooded murder with Itachi joining the Akatsuki to protect Konoha while living as a fugitive for the rest of his life. However, wishing to be punished for his crime, Itachi told Sasuke to live a life of vengeance so he would die by his brother's hand and restore their clan's honour. Joint Otogakure-Sunagakure Invasion Around five years after the Uchiha clan massacre, Konoha was invaded by Orochimaru who had forged an alliance with Sunagakure ninja to end the peace and prosperity that Konoha alone had enjoyed since the Third Ninja War. Prior to the final stage of the Chūnin Exams, Orochimaru murdered the Fourth Kazekage and assumed his identity to get close enough to his former mentor to strike. Though the invaders were repelled, Konoha suffered heavy casualties that included Hiruzen after he redeemed himself by disabling Orochimaru's ability of using normal forms of ninjutsu when he could not take his former apprentice with him in death. Though Tsunade was named the Fifth Hokage, recovery for the rest of Konoha's military forces was slow and understaffed to the point that it could not properly respond to events occurring in the interim, such as Itachi and Kisame Hoshigaki sneaking into Konoha in search of Naruto and Sasuke's defection weeks later. Pain's Invasion Three years after the failed Sand and Sound invasion, the Akastuki's leader Pain attacked the village in an effort to capture Naruto. Konoha's forces had some success while fighting the Six Paths of Pain individually, but could do nothing to stop the village's destruction by Pain's Shinra Tensei. Naruto returned to Konoha shortly afterwards (having been delayed by Danzō's actions) and defeated Pain before confronting Nagato, the man behind Pain, about his actions in the death of both their mentor Jiraiya and Konoha's citizens. After Naruto convinced him that his actions were wrong, Nagato gave his life to revive everyone that died during the invasion. Naruto has since then been celebrated as a hero of the village. Because of the attack, Konoha lost much of its economic and military capabilities, falling behind Iwagakure. Konoha's status as the most powerful village also passed onto Kumogakure. Tsunade was left in a coma from exhausting herself in protecting Konoha from Pain, causing Danzō to temporarily take office as her replacement. Danzō oversaw the start of the village's lengthy rebuilding process and dealt with the immediate aftermath of Pain's attack. Also, Sasuke's international crimes are now known to Konoha, which led the village to sever ties with him to prevent him from becoming a burden any longer, and officially brand him as a criminal to be killed. Fourth Shinobi World War Following Pain's attack on Konoha, along with the Akatsuki's other actions against the other ninja villages, the five Kage hold a Kage Summit to decide how to proceed with the organisation. After learning of his true goals for the tailed beasts, the ninja villages join forces to combat the Akatsuki's true leader Tobi who declared the Fourth Shinobi World War. Danzō is killed shortly after war is declared, but Tsunade wakes up from her coma in time to resume her position as Hokage and plan the village's actions during the war. Despite being under construction, the village is being used as a haven of sorts for refugees from countries predicted to become battlefields such as Land of Hot Water and the Land of Frost. By the time Orochimaru and Taka had been able to sneak into the village during the Fourth Shinobi World War, most of the village's old structures had been erected such as the administrative side of the Academy. Recent History Konoha grew back to its original size after being rebuilt once again, slowly garnering its power once more. Naruto was looked up to as a hero by most in the village, though there were some (especially in other villages) that despised him. Konohamaru Sarutobi, was the Seventh Hokage. He was a strong supporter of Naruto’s goals, and one of the few Kages that still strived for peace. After an alliance made with the Akatsuki, and no intentions to cover it up, other villages became mistrusting of Konoha. Ichiraku Ramen had grown famous and grew into the largest food chain in all history. When the Seventh Hokage passed away, his grandson, Mikano Sarutobi, succeeded him as the Eighth Hokage. About 37 years ago, ninjas who had "defected" from Kirigakure successfully attacked Konoha with devastating results, resulting in strained relations when it was revealed the attackers had not actually defected but only pretended to do so and were acting under the Mizukage's orders. However, the appointment of Mikano Sarutobi as the Eighth Hokage raised numerous problems both within Konoha and outside. The Elder Council had discrepancies with the twenty-two year old Hokage and against their will, Mikano Sarutobi started a war with the Crimson Lotus. This ultimately proved the downfall of both Mikano and Konoha. The Crimson Lotus attacked, killing Mikano and utterly destroying Konoha with the aid of Sound ninjas united by Azaku. The ninja and civilians were scattered across the Land of Fire. After some time, they were able to be reunited and a Ninth Hokage, Jeisen Uchiha, was selected. Konoha was reclaimed and the Crimson Lotus was defeated, though at a very heavy price. Due to the attack by the Lotus and Sound army, many buildings and important documents were destroyed or lost. Heavy losses were sustained during the great battle with the Crimson Lotus, leaving Konoha greatly weakened militarily, and the civilian population greatly reduced due to a high number of casualties from the invasion of the Lotus and Sound armies. Politics Konoha has long had a loose alliance with Suna and Iwa. After the Crimson Lotus was defeated, Jeisen Uchiha and Amaya Hozuki forged an alliance between Konoha and Kiri. This appears to be still in effect despite changes in leadership in both villages and increasing tension between the two villages. Recent Developments Rebuilding after the reclamation of Konoha has been quite successful and the economy has jump-started again. Although not as powerful as it once was, the village has made good steps towards recovery. However, bandit activity around the trade routes of Konoha picked up, necessitating increased border patrols and the deployment of more ninjas to deal with the issue. A 10th Hokage was named, Nenshou Natsuin, as Jeisen Uchiha retired from his duties as an active Hokage. After a series of attacks, the ninjas were lured to a compound and it was discovered that Shuriyko Uchiha had returned with the Crimson Lotus. What followed were subsequent Lotus attacks until the Hokage made a rather puzzling announcement - all Konoha-nin were to stop acting as if they were Crimson Lotus members. This worked, strangely enough, at stopping the bandit attacks. Not long after, Nen ordered the evacuation of civilians from Konoha because he feared an attack. He also stepped down from his position and turned over the role of Hokage to Asumizu Kigen. Not long after the civilians were attacked by Sessho-seki as part of some mad scheme. Many civilians died in the attack, though Sessho was himself captured and killed. Konoha quickly recovered, but now there are problems in both the northern and southern parts of the Land of Fire. The problems in the southern portion seem to be due to the work of a madman named Sho, who is working against both Konoha and Kiri, while those in the north remain to be uncovered. Nenshou Natsuin is once again the Hokage, as Asumizu has retired. Most recently, Nen realized that a substantial number of problems in Konoha had their root in the ANBU. For this reason the special ops were disbanded and duties reassigned to the regular forces. The village enjoyed a great deal of prosperity and internal peace once the ANBU were disbanded. During the Coalition in the Sound, an army consisting of Konoha and Ame shinobi attempted to attack Kiri. They never made it to the village and were brutally crushed. As a result, hostilities between Kiri and Konoha/Ame are at a peak and a state of war exists. Although the Hokage was killed in the battle, he returned to life and his village. After convening an emergency meeting of the Konoha Council, he stepped down in favor of Anda Uzumaki leading the village as the 12th Hokage. Category:Villages